Twelfth Beat | Am I Better off this Way

[knightime]

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.

Comments

[kingdomsgambit]

After John finally finished tucking away class notes for later, he walked over to Dave's class, as promised.

"Hel --"

Wait, no. He spelled Hello, Dave. to him. It's still really slow, but he was learning.

[knightime]

Dave had to roll his eyes. He'd have to tell John that waving hello actually suffices, mute or not. Instead he motions the other to sit down. He used his PDA for this. It would take too long to ask these through signing and he wanted to know what the other knew so he could actually teach him instead of spending more time for John to try and answer his question.

how much do you know at this point?
i assume alphabet with how you just signed fuck you to me
but oh well
hello to you too

Hopefully John doesn't actually take him seriously. Welp.

[fracturedsoul]

Dirk arrived early. No way was he going to miss out on this; having a non-awkward way of communicating with his roommate even sans PDAs? Definitely a plus. Especially if someone else who had to sign showed up. (Briefly, he wondered whatever happened to Shizune.)

He just waved as he approached Dave, taking a seat a few feet away from him.

[kingdomsgambit]

He bought it for a second, cheeks reddening. And then he looked at Dave's face and rolled his eyes. He knew he spelled it right. Dave was a douche.

"Words, I suppose? I brushed up on the alphabet the other day, and found it to be rather easy."

[knightime]

Snap!

He so took a photo of your embarrassed face. He is the worst friend. It is him. How are you friends with this fourteen year old douchebag?

thats pretty good actually
someone is diligent
alright i guess i can expand your word vocabulary
maybe teach you a few phrases even

[knightime]

Dave was still in the middle of his sandwich but he jabbed his finger at the book which was opened to the alphabet and then pointed it to himself.

As in 'sign me the alphabet' but he wasn't even sure if that made sense to Dirk.

On the upside, he gets to see what Dirk does.

[fracturedsoul]

Dirk glanced over at the book -- aha. He had read up on that much just in case there was ever a pressing emergency. Now to see how much he remembered.

'A, B, C, D, S --'

[knightime]

He stopped Dirk before he could continue on.

someones getting too excited
lost a few letters back there

Dave put his PDA down before holding his hands up to sign.

'E'

your thumb is tucked underneath your fingers
you just signed me a s
which is basically a fist

Aww look at that. Dave actually being fairly helpful and serious with teaching.

[kingdomsgambit]

WHAT WAS THAT.

John grips Dave's arm and makes a face. "Yes, diligence is well and good and all, you ought to educate me about words and phrases and -- Dave, what did you just do?"

[fracturedsoul]

Whoops. Dirk watched Dave sign it correctly, then looked down at his own hand and imitated. E, S, E, S. "All right, got it."

Okay. 'E, F, G, H, I, J.' Only he sort of got that one backward. He moved his pinky finger down, over, and up so that the hook of the J would be the proper shape, all right, except that Dirk was left-handed, so the shape came out backward.

[allurprincess]

Having moved away from the dorms and into the cottage, Sora was full of Jade cuddles but entirely malnourished of Dave. So when he put up the ASL notice, she jumped on it.

And then jumped on him.

Well, not really, but she did sprawl down next to him with a cheerful huff of breath with a hello lost in there somewhere.

[knightime]

He has to swat John's hand away quickly and put some space between them, rubbing his temples. Arghh. Not sure if that was worth it. Ow ow fucking ow. Fuck these rules about not being able to touch someone's Weapon. Fuck everything. This shit hurts.

ow
shit dude
just ow
no touching rule
its a crappy rule and everyone hates it
but i cant come in contact with you since youre a weapon and im a player
and youre under someone elses vow
chill
its a camera
it takes pictures thats all
never seen one before?

[kingdomsgambit]

Oh, right. John massages his forehead for a couple of seconds, mumbling an apology to David as if he were there.

"Terribly sorry about that. I forgot my place." He rolls his eyes at the inquiry. "Yes, of course I have heard of it, you silly boy. What would good, ol' Prospit be without silly electricity devices such as Pee Dee Eys and Cahmerahs?

"Sarcasm aside, you mean it could take portraits? How is that possible? Did you just take a portrait of me? I was not ready, but I must see."

[knightime]

He has to stop Dirk, but there's a bit of a silent chuckle as he helps the other.

oh shit
you had the same problem i had
who would know that being left handed wrecked our shit so much
your j is backwards
jsyk

Dave wasn't really even aware that the other was left-handed until now. Huh. Guess that makes sense. It wasn't something he particularly noticed.

[knightime]

Oh my god he thought Sora was going to tackle him. He's so glad she didn't.

He glanced over and waited for her to catch her breath before doing anything. He hadn't really talked to her since she moved to go be the best little prefect you could be. Or whatever.

She's the same as always. Sheesh.

[knightime]

i would totes get the major cuddling on with you
but fate is like nope
you can only be faithful to one player

Dave rolled his eyes. Well, not that John could see him roll his eyes, but whatever.

of course
how dare i question your great land of prospit
what blasphemy for me to question such a thing
shame on me
i have let down my family name
well
yeah thats one way of saying it
totally just took a picture of you looking like you were trying to copy a tomato or something
naw
i got to develop the film first
so you might have to wait a few days before i get to that step
i should probably invest in a digital camera

[fracturedsoul]

"Well, strap my arm down and beat me with a ruler." Huh, if Dave is left-handed -- was his Bro, too? Maybe that's why all the shit he'd left in that apartment had never given Dirk any problems.

Right. So. 'J, K, L, M, N, O.' Those were easy, they just looked like the letters they were meant to represent. 'P, Q, R, S --' If it was possible to emphasize sign language, Dirk definitely was right there. '-- T, U, V, W, X, I love you.' Not realizing he'd fucked up his Y, he paused for a second to make sure he moved his hand in the proper direction for, 'Z.'

[allurprincess]

Is it good or bad to have a battle pair of prefects looking out for you? Who knows. Jade and Sora are the co-leaders of the Looking After Dave fellowship, anyway. She smiles at him as she regains her breath, and then remembers that, hey.

You can sign without opening your mouth. That's a thing that can happen.

'Hello'!

[knightime]

Oh my god. Watching Dirk sign the alphabet is the funniest shit. Look at him getting all testy with the letter S. Like it offended his pet or something. He just...

He can't. Nope. Done. Dead. His shit is lost

Dave let's out a breathy laugh and soon he's laughing. The only sounds is the inhale and exhale of air and Dave's entire body shaking as he tries to stop laughing.

i love you too
i dont think thats what you were trying to sign to me though

Excuse him while he tries to stop his giggle fit.

[fracturedsoul]

What.

"What. What did I do?" He didn't realize. At all. He hadn't learned anything more than the basic letters.

[kingdomsgambit]

"It's a shame, really. I should like to pat you on the head to remind you how small you are without repercussions."

...Dave could type really fast. Unfortunately, everything he types is stupid. And charming, in its own, stupid way.

"Prospit is still great even without electritonics, and wow, I am sure that is quite unflattering, you rascal. Get rid of it."

[knightime]

He's not sure why there's even a Looking After Dave fellowship. He can take care of himself. Even if he keeps getting into fights and shit. It's all him.

sup yourself
idk what you need help with
so youre gonna have to give me a ballpark to work with

[knightime]

Dave is trying to not laugh so much as he tries to type and show Dirk the different signs.

this
this is y dude

He shows him Y, which didn't have the index finger.

what you just signed to me was confessing your undying love for me
this is
i love you

He shows the sign that Dirk had signed to him. This would be more awkward or kind of embarrassing if he were not still trying to contain himself.

[knightime]

what
im not small
holy shit
its not my fault youre just stupidly tall
and old

Hey. He types totally normal things. His typing is not stupid, get out.

i guess
but people like me would be fucked without the sweetness that is texting
seriously
my writing looks like chicken scratch if i tried writing as fast as i typed
nope
it is sealed in film
forever
5ever even
youll never get rid of it now

[fracturedsoul]

"What the hell? Who decided those signs should fucking be so similar?" But he imitated Dave as he signed the letter Y. That was a little embarrassing, but he hadn't meant anything by it and Dave wasn't making a big deal out of it so it wasn't like it really mattered. There wasn't anybody Dirk would have a reason to sign that to anyway.

The hysterical laughter, though, that was what got to Dirk.

"Okay, I get it now, you can stop with the cachinnations, bro. That's pretty clever, encoding entire common phrases into one gesture instead of makin' you break 'em up into separate words. Must save time."